Bag feeding, valving and sewing machine



Oct. 3, 1961 c. R. HOLLIS 3, 2, 4

BAG FEEDING, VALVING AND SEWING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1955 12 Sheets-Sheet l -1 L\= INVENTOR.

1961 c. R. HOLLIS 3,002,747

BAG FEEDING VALVING AND SEWING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1955 12 Sheets-Sheet 2 N Q Q #9 Q INVENTOR. 671571 077 R ZGZZZS' Oct. 3, 1961 c. R. HOLLIS BAG FEEDING, VALVING AND SEWING MACHINE l2 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 5, 1955 INVENTOR. Ciz'nfon Ho Z Z is %M 2 QWN AMN

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0% mm 4/ Y Oct. 3, 1961 I c. RJHOLLIS 3,002,747

BAG FEEDING, VALVINGVAND SEWING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1955 Y f I 12 Sheets-Sheet 4 JNVENTOR.

Oct. 3, 1961 c. R. HOLLIS 3,002,747

BAG FEEDING, VALVING AND SEWING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1955 12 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. CZifli ONF. Hflz's Oct. 3, 1961 C. R. HOLLIS BAG FEEDING, VALVING AND SEWING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1955 12 Sheets-Sheet 6 Oct. 3, 1961 c. R. HOLLIS BAG FEEDING, VALVING AND SEWING MACHINE l2 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed July 5, 1955 IN V EN TOR.

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NW QNR SR Oct. 3, 1961 Filed July 5, 1955 C. R. HOLLIS BAG FEEDING, VALVING AND SEWING MACHINE 12 Sheets-Sheet 12 INVENTOR. (*Zz'nian 1?][0721'9 3,002,747 BAG FEEDWG, VALVING AND SEWING MAC Clinton R. Hollis, Camden, Ark., assignor to International Paper Company, New York, N.Y., a corporatron of New York Filed July 5, 1955, Ser. No. 520,033 13 Claims. (Cl. 271-29) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in bagmaking machinery generally, and particularly seeks to provide a novel machine for automatically performmg feeding, valving, sleeving and sewing operations on preformed gusseted blanks for multiwall paper valve ags.

In applying a so-called tuck-in sleeve to a gusseted multiwall blank for a valve bag it is necessary to open the gusset and bag walls in the area of the valve so that opposite sides become disposed 180 apart and the valve s flattened out into substantially a single plane. Followmg the opening of the valve in this manner the leading edge of the sleeve blank which has been previously glued on its underside is inserted between the valve lip and the wall portions of the bag lying immediately therebehind, and the remainder of the sleeve blank is folded downwardly over the valve lip into juxtaposition with the flattened valve. The valve is then closed which results in the sleeve being medially creased, and the bag is then ready to have its valve end closed as by a line of sewing spaced inwardly from the tube end but substantially parallel thereto.

Manual application of these sleeves is obviously uneconomical for several reasons, including the necessity of handling each bag blank individually, the necessity of preforming and reopening the valve prior to insertion of the sleeve, the necessity of precutting and stacking the sleeve blanks, the necessity of individually gluing the lead edge of each sleeve blank, as well as the necessity for performing separate operations in sewing the ends of the bags to complete their formation.

Many efforts have heretofore been made not only to perform the valving and sleeving operations automatically, but also to automatically feed the bags to the valving and sleeving mechanisms and to automatically discharge them therefrom, but none has been satisfactory because the mechanisms could not keep the bag blanks under proper control during the feeding operations and could not keep the sleeves under full control as they were being inserted behind the valve lips or because the sleeves would become displaced when folded into their closed positlon.

A machine constructed in accordance with this invention, however, overcomes the deficiencies of the earlier machines and provides a machine for automatically feeding, valving, sleeving and sewing multiwall bags in such a manner that the bag blanks as well as the sleeves are always kept under perfect control during such operations.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a novel machine for supporting a stack of valve bag tubes, feeding individual tubes to a valving and sleeving station, performing valving and sleeving operations on the tube at that station, withdrawing the valved and sleeved blank from the valving and sleeving station, and sewing closures on both ends of the bag blank to complete the formation of the multiwall valve bag.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of the character stated in which a fresh bag tube is fed to the valving and sleeving station substantially simultaneously with the withdrawal of the preceding blank upon which valving and sleeving operations have been performed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of the character stated in which the bag tube feed- 1 ing means includes a rotary feed sector which is also effective in cooperation with other machine elements to withdraw in properly timed relation the preceding bag tube upon which valving and sleeving operations have been performed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine of the character stated in which the bag tube feeding means include grippers to retain an edge of each successively presented bag tube under control as it is moved into position at the valving and sleeving stations for engagement by thevalving and sleeving device.

.A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of the character stated which includes a valving and sleeving station provided which means for opening and flattening the valve preparatory to receiving a tuckin sleeve, for withdrawing, creasing, cutting and gluing successive sleeve blanks from a supply roll of paper therefor, and for individually applying the sleeves to the to accommodate various sizes of bag tubes and widths of tuck-in sleeves therefor.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine of the character stated in which all of the operative parts thereof are driven from a single source of power and are completely synchronized.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of the character stated which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.

With these and other objects in view, the nature of which will be more apparent, the invention will be more fully understood by reference to the drawings, the accompanying detailed description and the appended claims.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a bag feeding, valving, sleeving and sewing machine constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a right end elevation of the bag feeding and sewing portions of the machine with portions of the valving and sleeving mechanisms thereof being deleted; FIG. 4 is a left end elevation of those portions of the machine shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the bag feeding portion of the machine;

FIG. 6 is a vertical transverse section of the upper portion of the machine taken along line 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but showing portions of the mechanisms positioned immediately below those shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse section of a portion of the mechanisms shown in FIG. 7 and shows in greater detail the driving connections for the bag discharge carriage;

FIGS. 9 to 12 successively show the various stages at the beginning of the feeding operations on the bottom bag of a stack thereof;

FIGS. 13 to 19 are detailed views showing the positions of the various cams during the feeding operations illustrated in FIGS. 9 to 12;

FIG. 20 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse section Fatented Oct. 3, 1961 a a 3,002,747 p of the upper part of the machine taken along line 20-20 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 21 is a top plan view of the mechanisms shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 22 is ;a longitudinal section taken along line 22-22of FIG. 21.;

FIG. 23 .is an enlarged fragmentary transverse section showing a bag as it appears following completion-of the valvingand sleeving operation and immediately prior to its withdrawal therefrom and presentation to the sewing units; and

FIGS. 24 to 27 are fragmentary perspectives of bag tubes showing successive stages in the valving, sleeving and sewing operations.

General organization Referring to the drawings 'in detail it will be seen that the invention as illustrated is embodied .in a machine for automatically performing feeding, valving, sleeving and sewing-operations on preformed gusseted blanks for multiwall paper valve bags and includes a bag feeding and discharging section generally indicated at A, a valving and sleevingsection;conveniently designated as a first bag tube finishing means, generally indicated at B, and a sewing section, conveniently designated as a second bag tube finishing means, generally indicated at C, all adapted to be driven in proper synchronization from a single source ofpower such as amotorgenerally indicated at D.

In so far as possible the detailed description of this machine will followa cycle of operation in order that its operation may be more readily understood.

Generally speaking, a stack of :bag'tubes is placed on top of the feeding and discharging section A of the machine, and. successive bags-are withdrawn from the bottom of the stack by appropriate mechanisms of that station and moved into position at which valving and sleeveinserting operations are performed by the valving and sleeving section B. After this the mechanisms of the feeding and discharging section A become effective to withdraw a valved and sleeved blank and to project it into position for engagement with mechanisms in the sewing section C which present the bag blank'to a pair of oppositely disposed sewing heads which simultaneously effect a sewn closure across each end of the bag to complete its formation.

Bag feeding and discharging section This section of the machine is provided at its top with a table (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) or bag tube support means with which is associated an adjustably mounted right end bag stop 6, a pair of adjustably mounted spaced back stops 7, 7 and an adjustably mounted left end bag stop 8. The table 5 and the several bag stops mentioned above are adapted to support and align a stack of multiwall valve bag blanks having valve extensions of the type illustrated in FIG. 24 of the drawings in such a position that the ends thereof which contain the valve extensions are positioned against the right end bag stop 6 with the front longitudinal edges thereof extending forwardly beyond the front edge of the table 5 in order that they may be properly engaged by the operative mechanisms of this feeding. and discharging section.

The table 5 and its associated bag stops are supported on the top of 'a main frame 9 which rotatably carries .a hollow rock shaft 10 disposed in parallelism with and slightly below the plane of the table 5. A plurality of radially extending bag supports 11 are affixed to the rock shaft 10, and are provided at their outer ends with a suction aperture 12 connected to the interior of the hollow rock shaft Why a pipe or tube 13. One end of'the rock shaft 10 is connected to any suitable source of vacuum (not shown) as by a flexible tube 14 and the other end of the rock shaft is plugged and serves as a pivot for other machine elements as will be hereinafter more fully described.

One end of the rock shaft 10 (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 4) is provided with a rock arm 15 carrying a stud 16. A bell crank 17 is oscillatably mounted on a stud 18 aflixed to the main frame 9 and includes a relatively short, upstanding bifurcated arm 19 which engages the stud 16 of the rock arm 15 and a somewhat longer arm 20provided at its outer end with a roller cam follower 21. A tension spring 22 extends between the middle part of the .bell

' crank arm 20 and a suitable connectionon the main frame 9 and constantly tends to bias the bell crank 17 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed inFIG. 4 of the drawings and thus serves to maintain the cam follower 21 in operative contact with a cam 23 affixed to one end of a feed sector shaft .24 rotatably journalled on the main frame 9 beneath the table 5.

The shaft 24 is adapted to-be driven from-the motor B through a reduction gear-25 anda sprocket chain .26 which drives a valver and sleever drive shaft 27, rotatably mounted on the main frame 9 immediately behind the shaft 24. A gear 28 is fixed to the shaft 27 adjacent the left end thereof as viewed from the front of the machine and meshes with a larger gear 29 affixed to the shaft 24.

It will be noted that the sprocket chain '26 in driving the shaft 27 passes over a large idler sprocket 30 a'flixed to a sprocket shaft 30a and a pair of small idler sprockets 31, 31 rotatably mounted on suitable stub shafts.

The upper .part of the main frame 9 is also provided adjacent the forward edge thereof with a plurality of brackets 32 which rotatably support a horizontally extending rock shaft 33. A plurality of generally U-shaped bag supports 34 are adjustably aflixed to the rock shaft 33 and are so proportioned that one leg'of each U thereof is adapted to be projected into a position underlying the forward edge portion of the bags supported on the table 5 and are disposed in slightly offset relationship with respect to the bag supports 11 carried by the hollow rock shaft 16.

A rock shaft 35 is journalled on the main frame below the rock shaft 33 and carries a plurality of freely mounted, relatively short, bag edge supports 36 which are disposed in alignment with the U-shaped supports 34.

The rock shaft 35 also carries a plurality of cam blocks 37 rigidly affixed thereto, of which each is provided with a pusher plate 38. The cam blocks 37 are disposed in alignment with the bag supporting elements '11 carried the bags supported on the table 5 and the cam blocks 37 perform similar functions with respect to the depending bag-contacting sprin elements 42 (see FIGS. 6, 9 and 10).

The shaft 35 carries adjacent its left end as viewed in FIG. 1 a relatively short, downwardly extending rock arm 44 which is connected by a tension spring 45 to a stud 46 carried by the main frame 9. A rearwardly extending rock arm 47, FIG. 6, having a downwardly curved end portion 48 is also affixed to the rock shaft 35 in such position that it overlaps the peripheral portion of the gear 29 mounted on the shaft 24. A roller abutment 49 is affixed to the adjacent face of the gear 29 and contacts the downward curved end 48 of the rock arm 47 once during each revolution of the gear to effect oscillation of the shaft 35 ina direction against the pull of the spring 45, the spring, of course, being effective to oscillate the shaft 35 in the opposite direction after the roller a-buttion (not shown) to limit counterclockwise oscillation'of The shaft 33 is adapted to be oscillated through the medium of cam and bell crank connection and to this end a rock arm 50 provided at one end with a roller stud 51 is secured to one end of the shaft 33, FIG. 3. A bell crank 52 is freely pivoted on the closed projecting end of the rock shaft 10 and includes a bifurcated arm 53 which engages the roller stud 51 and a downwardly and rear- Wardly extending arm 54 provided at its lower end with a roller cam follower 55. The cam follower 55 is maintained in operative contact with a cam 56 affixed to the shaft 24. Contact between the cam and follower is maintained through the use of a tension spring 57 extending from the outer end of the bell crank arm 53 to an adjacent point on the main frame 9.

The bag supports 11, 34 and 36 together with the leaf spring 39 cooperate to deflect downwardly the front edge of a bottom blank supported on the table while restraining the front portions of the remaining blanks on the stack against downward movement, and comprise means for successively selecting an individual bag tube from the stack and moving it for engagement by first and second elements of the feeding means.

In order to remove the bottom blank from the stack additional feeding devices are provided which include a pair of rotatable feed sectors 58, 58 secured to the shaft 24 and each of which may be conveniently designated as a second element in the bag tube feeding means. Each of the sectors 58 is provided with a peripheral flange 59, the lead edge of which is rounded as at 60.

A feed segment shaft 61, FIG. 6, is rotatably journallcd on the main frame 9 and is provided adjacent one end with a gear 6 2 engaged in meshing relationship with the gear 29 in order that the shaft 61 may be driven thereby.

A pair of rotatable feed segments 63, 63, each of which may be conveniently designated as a first element in the bag tube feeding means, are secured to the shaft 61 in alignment with the feed sectors 58 on the shaft 24. The radii of the feed sectors 58 and the feed segments 63 are such that as they rotate, the curved bag-contacting portions of the peripheries thereof intermittently form a nip to engage a bag tube between them and which is spaced a distance to permit the bag blank to be received therebetween and yet is close enough to effect downward feeding of the blank to the valving and sleeving section or first bag tube finishing means B. The shaft 61 also carries a plurality of picker arms 64, each of which terminates in a tangentially extending picker finger 65.

A gripper chain drive shaft 66, FIG. 3, is journalled on the main frame 9 in a position below the lowest plane upon which a bag edge may rest during valving and sleeving operations. The shaft 66 is driven from the shaft 61 through sprocket and chain connections generally indicated at 67.

A pair of sprockets 68, 68 are affixed to the shaft 66 in vertical alignment with a similar pair of sprockets 69, 69 afiixcd to the shaft 61. A gripper chain 70 is engaged by each pair of sprockets 68 and 69 and follows a generally inverted L-shap'ed path, the leg of which is formed through the use of an intermediate idler sprocket 71 and an end idler sprocket 72. A generally Vertical chain guide plate 73 is associated with each of the gripper chains 70 in order to provide a definite path of travel for gripper elements carried thereby as they control the downward motion of the bottom edge of the bag blank to its position at rest adjacent the valving and sleeving section.

Each gripper chain is provided with a plurality of gripper assemblies generally indicated at 74, FIG. 6, which are secured to one side of the chain and include a side plate 75 having a stationary clamp face 76 and a movable clamp arm 77 provided with a clamp face 78 which is pivotally connected intermediate its ends as at 79 to the side plate 75. The opposite end of the clamp arm 77 is rounded as at 80 to provide an abutment contacting surface. A coil spring 81 seen in FIG. 5 constantly biases the movable clamp arm 77 towards the closed position trip bar 83 holds the gripper open because the movable clamp arm 77 slides along its surface after the gripper has been opened. By reference to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 it will be seen that the movable arm 77 of the gripper returns to :a bag-clamping position with respect to the stationary clamp face 76 by action of the coil spring 81 as soon as disengagement from the trip bar has been effected as a result of continued movement of the gripper chain.

The downward movement of each bag under the infiuence of the feed sector 58, the feed segment 63 and under control of the grippers 74 is limited by an adjustable bag rest generally indicated at 84, FIG. 7, which establishes a rest position for the bag tube at the first finishing means and includes a pair of spaced, vertically adjustable standards 85, 85 slidably mounted on a guide rod 86 extending between two transverse members of the main frame 9. Each of the standards 85 is provided along one edge with a rack 87 engageable by a pinion 88 afiixed to a rotatable shaft 89 which is provided at one end with a locking type of hand wheel 99 (see FIGS. 3, 4 and 7). A rod 91 which is secured between the standards 85, 85 at the upper ends thereof is provided with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers 92 upon which each bag rests; thus by manipulation of the hand wheel 99 the vertical position of the standards 85, 85 and consequently the bag supporting fingers 92 may be adjusted as desired in order to adjust the machine for operations upon bags of different widths.

The guide rod 86 carries one or more pairs of vertically extending spaced parallel bag guides 93 and 94 having their upper ends disposed in divergent relationship (see FIG. 23). The guides 93 and 94 establish the limits of forward and rearward movement that a bag blank can take during feeding or discharging operation. One or more downwardly and forwardly extending leaf springs 95 have their upper ends secured to a suitable part of the main frame and extend down into the zone defined by the guides 93 and 94 and serve to bias the lower edge portion of each succesively fed bag towards contact with the front guides 93 whereby to assist in proper alignment of the lower edge of the bag blank as it is brought to rest on the fingers 92. A downwardly and rearwardly extending leaf spring 96 has its upper end suitably secured to a frame member and projects into the zone defined by the outwardly diverging portions of the bag guides 93 and 94 and serves to constantly bias the upper edge portions of each bag blank or tube rearwardly, thereby providing means to present its upper edge for engagement by the sector 58 and a third element of the feeding means when the bag is to be discharged from its position at the valving and sleeving station.

Valving and sleeving section The valving and sleeving section B of first bag tube finishing means of the machine is driven from the shaft 27 through the medium of a pair of bevel gears 97, 97,

cross shaft 93, and sprocket chain 99 which is operatively connected with a main driven shaft 100 located adjacent the base of the valving and sleeving section (see FIG. 1).

The complete details of the mechanisms of this valving and sleeving section of the machine are disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 471,181, filed November 26, 1954, now Patent No. 2,809,569 issued 0c tober 15, 1957, and for the purposes of this description external bag clamping wings 101, 1111, FIGS. 1, 3, a pair of internal gusset clamp plates 1112, 102 (see FIG. 3), an oscillatory press plate 163, FIG. 1, and an oscillatory creasing element 104, 'FiG. 1. As the bags reach a position of rest with their lower edges on the supporting fingers 92 the gusset clamp plates 102, 102 are received'into the gusset of the bag in the general area where the valve is to be formed, with the lower face portions of the bag being positions between the wings 101, 101. After a bag has been thus positioned the wings 101, 101 are first pivoted about their horizontal axes to securely clamp the bag in position after which they together with the gusset clamp plates 1112, 102 are rotated in opposite directions 90 about their vertical axes to form the valve with the flap thereof intucked and flattened as shown in FIG. 25 of the drawings. The bag is now ready to receive the insert which is .to be applied to the upstanding valve lip, after which the valve is 'foided to its closed position as shown in FIG. 26 of the drawings.

To this end the lead end of 'a supply roll of sleeve paper 105, FIG. 1, is brought upwardly over a guide roller 11% and under a creasing wheel 107 which automatically medially creases the web of paper as it is being fed into the remaining portions of the sleeve-forming devices. From the guide roller 1616 the sleeve paper passes between a pair of draw rolls generally indicated at 108, a pair of cut-oft rolls generally indicated at 16?, and a pair of crease rolls generally indicated at 111} which transversely crease the trailing marginal edge portion of each sleeve blank after it has been severed by the cut-off rolls 16 9. From the crease rolls 110 each sleeve blank passes between a pair of paste rolls generally indicated at #111 which apply a bar of paste along the upper face of the creased trailing marginal edge portion of the sleeve blank. From the paste rolls 111 the leading edge of each sleeve blank is engaged by grippers carried on a chain conveyor generally indicated at 112 (see FIG. 1) which advances each sleeve blank into position for engagement with a continuously rotating sleeve transfer and application assembly generally indicated at 113. The assembly 113 removes each successively presented sleeve blank from the conveyor 11-2, transfers it to a position for application to the upstanding lip of the opened and flattened valve, applies the creased pasted trailing edge of the sleeve behind the upstanding valve lip and thereafter moves what had originally been the leading portion of the sleeve downwardly into close proximity to the face of the opened valve. As this action has been taking place the oscillatable press plate 103 has been moved up into contact with the lower portion of the flattened valve face and assists in maintaining the valve lip in a straight line up until the time that the sleeve is applied thereto. As the sleeve is being applied to the valve the press plate 103 is retracted from its valve-contacting position and the creasing element 104 is moved up to push the leading or depending portion of the sleeve insert into full contact with the valve as the wings 101 and the gusset clamp plates 102 start their return oscillation about their vertical axes to close the valve into the position shown in FIG. 26. Obviously, as the full closure is being reached the creasing element 194 is retracted.

The valving and sleeving section B of the machine is mounted for vertical adjustment with respect to the feeding and discharging section A in order that bags of different Widths may be properly operated upon. By reference to FIG. 1 it will be noted that the valving and sleeving section is supported upon a plurality of cross bars 114 which engage a plurality of nuts or collars 115 which are threadably carried by a plurality of standards 116. The

collars 115 are simultaneously rotated in the same direction through the medium of sprocket and gear connections generally indicated at 117. In this manner the entire valvingand sleeving section may be raised or lowered as desired.

Raising or lowering of the valving and sleeving section will, of course, efiect a relative shortening or lengthening of its drive sprocket chain 99 relative, to the'bevl gears 97, and in order that this may be compensated for an idler sprocket 118 is rotatably supported upon the main frame 9 and a second idler sprocket 119, offset relative to the sprocket 118, is rotatably carried by a frame element of the valving and sleeving section.

Sewing section After the bag blanks have been fed to the valving and sleeving station and after such operations have been performed it is, of course, necessary to discharge each bag from its position at rest and effect its transfer to the sewing section C or second bag tube finishing means. To this end a shaft 120 is rotatably journalled in the main frame beneath and parallel to the feed sector shaft'24 and is rotatably driven therefrom by the gear 29which meshes with a'smallergear 121 afiixed tothe shaft 120 (see FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8). A pair of rotatable bag discharge feed rolls 122, 122 each of which may be conveniently designated as a third element in the bag tube feeding means are aifixed to the shaft 120 in alignment with the feed sectors 58 and cooperate therewith to intermittently form a nip to engage between them the upper edge of a bag upon which the valving and sleeving operations have been completed and effect its discharge onto a bag-supporting table which comprises a plurality of horizontally disposed spaced parallel bars 1223, thereby to move the bag tube from the first finishing means to the second finishing means.

Bag pusher means generally indicated at 124, FIG. 8, are positioned below the table formed by the bars 123 and include a carriage 125 slidably carried by a pair of spaced parallel rods 126, 126. Each of the rods 126 carries a compression spring 127 which constantly biases the carriage 125 to its normal position at rest, as shown in FIG. 7 of the drawings.

Rearward movement of the carriage 125 is effected by a sprocket chain 128, one end loop of which passes over an idler sprocket 129 affixed to a shaft 12% and the other end loop of which is engaged by a sprocket 130 secured to the idler sprocket shaft 311a (see FIGS. 7, 8

and 21). Thus the sprocket chain 128 is constantly driven as the shaft 30a rotates, and means must be provided to periodically connect and disconnect the carriage 1-25 from operative engagement therewith. To this end the carriage 125, which is an open fabricated structure, is provided with .a cross shaft 131 which carries a freely rotatable sprocket 132 of such a diameter and pitch that its teeth mesh 'with the pivots of the sprocket chain 128. So long as the sprocket 132 is permitted to freely rotate the sprocket chain 12% will move relative to the carriage 125 since it is restrained against rearward movement by the force of the compression springs 127. However, if rotation of the sprocket 132 were stopped it would immediately effect a locking connection between the sprocket chain 128 and the carriage 125, and the carriage would be moved rearwardly at the same rate of speed as the sprocket chain, and after it was moved rear- Wardly as far as necessary the locking of the sprocket 132 must be released to again permit free rotation thereof and return of the carriage to its initial position under the influence of the springs 127.

In order to effect such a locking and unlocking of the sprocket 132 the carriage 125 is provided with a rock shaft 133 having a rock arm 134 clamped thereto. The rock arm 134 is provided with a pair of studs 135, 135 of a diameter such that they will fit into the teeth of the sprocket 132 and spaced a distance sufficient that they span both sides of a tooth of the sprocket (see FIGS. 8 and 22') a relatively short rock arm 136, the outer end of which is pivotally connected as at 137 to the outer end of a One end of the rock shaft 133 is provided with 9 slide element 138. The slide 138 is slidably mounted on a stud 139 aflixed to a rock shaft 140 journalled on the carriage 125. A compression spring 141 extends between the slide 138 and the outer end of the stud 139.

The rock shaft 149 extends quite a substantial distance beyond both sides of the carriage 125 and is provided adjacent its outer ends with a pair of forwardly extending arms 142, 142 adjustably secured thereto (see FIGS. and 20). Each of the arms 142 is provided with an upstanding leg 143 which is engageable with the front edge of each bag that has been positioned on top of the table formed by the bars 123 and is effective when the carriage 125 is advanced by the sprocket chain 128 to push the bag rearwardly into engagement with the operative mechanisms of a pair of sewing heads, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The other end of the rock shaft 133 is provided with a bell crank 144 having a short upstanding arm 145 and a somewhat longer forwardly and downwardly extending arm 146. As viewed in FIG. 8 of the drawings, clockwise oscillation of the rock shaft 133 will lock the sprocket 132 against further free rotation and will also oscillate the rock shaft 140 in a clockwise direction to raise the bag-engaging legs 143 of the arms 142 above the plane of the table bars 123. i

In order to effect this clockwise oscillation of the rock shaft 133 the shaft 124) (see FIG. 8 and FIG. 20 which is reversed in respect thereto) carries a gear 147 which meshes with a larger gear 148 freely rotatable on the shaft 30a. Thus the gear 148 and the shaft 30a rotate in opposite directions. The gear 148 is provided with a roller abutment 149. Accordingly, each time that the gear 148 rotates in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 8 or clockwise as viewed in FIG. 20 the roller abutment 149 thereof will contact the depending arm 146 of the bell crank 144 to effect the desired oscillation of the rock shaft 133 and rearward movement of the carriage 125.

As the carriage advances to the point at which a bag engaged by the upstanding legs 143 comes into operative engagement with the sewing heads the short upstanding arm 145 of the bell crank 144 contacts a roller abutment 150 carried by one of the adjacent tables bars 123 to effect oscillation of the rock shaft 133 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 8 or clockwise as viewed in FIG. 20 to unlock the sprocket 132, lower the bag pusher legs 143 and permit the springs 127 to return the carriage 125 to its initial position.

It is a very simple matter to adapt the above described bag pushing mechanisms to various Widths of bags. It will be appreciated that when narrower bags are being operated upon they must be pushed a greater distance in order for their rear edges (oriented from the front of the machine) to come into operative engagement with the sewing heads, and for wider bags the distance they must be pushed will, of course, be less. Accordingly, all it is necessary to do in order to make the adjustment to the bag pusher is to move the roller abutment 150 rearwardly the proper distance when narrower bags are being operated upon or forwardly the proper distance to compensate for the different widths of wider bags.

As the bag pusher legs 143 reach their rearmost limit of movement the rear edge of the bag moved thereby comes into operative engagement with the feed dogs of a pair of symmetrically opposed sewing heads generally indicated at 151 which continue the rearward movement of the bag while simultaneously forming a sewn closure completely across each end thereof. The sewing heads are adjustably supported on a pair of spaced horizontal longitudinally extending rails 152, 152. The right-hand sewing head 151 as seen in FIG. 2 while 'adjustably mounted on the rails 152 is only adjusted to the position where it is in proper alignment with the valved end of the bag tube. After that it remains in that single position. The left-hand sewing head, however, is adjusted along the rails 152 to the right or left as required in accordance with bags having different lengths. The type of closure formed by the sewing heads may be a bare stitched closure, may be of the type where the ends of the bag are first covered by tape and then the stitches are sewn through the tape and the bag, or may be of the type where the line of stitches is first sewn and then a tape is adhesively secured over the ends. In the present embodiment of the invention the sewing heads as illustrated are set up to provide the second mentioned. type of closure in which a tape is folded over the bag ends and then the stitches pass through the tape as Well as the bag. In order to effect this each sewing head is provided with a roll shaft 153 upon which is mounted a supply roll, of paper tape [not shown) which leads from that position over a series of guide and paste rolls generally indicated at 154 and thence along a folding shoe 155 which folds the tape medially over the end of the bag as it is being advanced.

The sewing heads 151 are also driven from the motor D through a suitable gear box 156. It will be appreciated that the gear box 156 must of necessity include a spline or equivalent type of driving connection to the sewing heads 151 in order that their lateral adjustability along the rails 152 may be readily effected. It will be appreciated also that the sewing heads 151 are equipped with the usual type of cutter in order to sever the tape and line of stitching between successive bags.

As each bag leaves the sewing heads 151 its rear edge becomes engaged between two sets of upper and lower discharge feed rolls 157, 15'] mounted on upper and lower feed roll shafts 158 and 159. The shafts 158 and 159 are driven in opposite direction by gears 161 alfixed to the ends of the shafts. A sprocket 161 is affixed to the lower shaft 159 intermediate the ends thereof and is connected to a similar sprocket 162 affixed to the sprocket shaft 129a as by a sprocket chain 163.

As each bag is discharged from the feed rolls 157 it drops into a suitable receiver generally indicated at 164 from which it is removed for bundling and shipping.

Operation Although it is believed that the foregoing description is sufficiently clear that the operation of this machine should be understood, a brief description of a single cycle of its operation will now be given by way of summary.

A stack of bag blanks E is positioned on the table 5 so that their right-hand ends containing the valve corner extension abut the bag stop 6 and their forward edges bend down below the plane of the table 5 and rest against the lower portions of the leaf springs 39 (see FIGS. 9 to 12). When the machine is started the rock shaft 10 is oscillated in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 9 to move the bag supports 11 into contact with the bottom front edge portion of the bottom bag in the stack, and this motion continues sufficiently to raise the forward edges of all of the bags a distance sufficient that the forward edge of the bottom bag becomes positioned slightly above the central bag-contacting elements 43 of the leaf spring 39. i

At this time the rock shaft 35 is oscillated in a clockwise direction so that the pusher plates 38 on the cam blocks 37 become effective to move the central spring elements 43 to the position shown in FIG. 9 whereby to permit the forward edge portion of the bottom bag to be displaced downwardly while retarding the downward movement of the remainder of the bags in the stack.

The rock shaft 10 is then oscillated in a counterclockwise direction in synchronization with rotation of the feed segment shaft 61 so that the picker fingers 65 carried thereby can enter the forward gusset of the bottom bag as shown in FIG. 10. The suction on the hoses 13 of the oscillatory bag supports '11 assists in the downward movement of the bottom bag and in the opening of its gussets to receive the picker fingers 65. Continued clockwise rotation of. the picker'fingers and; counter.-

clockwise-oscillation of the rock shaftbring theparts to theposition shown in FIG. ll-ofthe-drawings at which time one set of the gripper. assembliesM'hasrbeen advanced by the gripper chains '70 to the positioncat which the. clamp face 78 on the movable clamp.arm.7;7 undenlies the forward edge of the gussetso-that upon continued movement of thegripper assemblies these clampv faces willbe projectedIup-into the gusset as shown inFIG. 12,

Asthis positionisreached the -feed sector shaft-zdhas.

been rotating, in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in. FIGS. 3, 6.so.that the leadingedges of the-feedsectorsSShave been brought into contact with the rear face of the bag and start to form a nip-in cooperation with.

turn. to their initial positions and to project the side;

spring portions. 42 to the position shown in FIG. 10. Also, the rock shaft 33 has beenoscillated in acounterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIGS. 9m 12, to-cause the U-shaped. bag supports 34. and the freely pivoted bag edge supports. 36-.to come upunder forward, edge portions of the bags remaining in the stack torestrain them against movement as the bottom bag is being withdrawn.

Continued rotation of the feed segment shaft 61 and the feed sector shaft 24. will cause the feed segments 63 and sectors 58 to completely extract the bottom bag. from the stack, and the gripper assemblies 74 retainthe.

bottom edge of the bag under control as this downward movement is taking place and guide it accurately into position so that the bag comes down between thewings:

101 of the-valving and sleeving section. B and the gusset spans thegusset, clamp plates 102. andcomes forest on the bag-supporting fingers 92; Since the gripper assern; blies 74 are under only moderate spring prmsure the grippers will easily slide out ofengagement with the bag as it is stopped by the fingers 92. The leaf springs95. (see FIG, 23) and the lead bag guide 93. also cooperate to control the positioning of the lower edge of the bag. The upper leaf spring. 6 is effective to pushv the upper. portion of'the bag ina rearwarddirection so that it intersects the path of travel'of the feed sectors 58';

After the valving and sleeving operations have been completed as hereinbefore described the feed sectors 58, and the discharge feed. rolls 122; first engage the upper part ofthevalved'and sleeved bag and form a nip whi ch extracts the bagfrom its position adjacent the valving and sleeving section and causes it. tobe deposited on the table bars 123' in a position such that its front edge is immediately behind the position to which the pusher legs 143". will be projected upwardly upon actuationofthe pusher assembly. 124';

One feature ofthe unique feeding mechanisms of this.

ment 6 3, the second element or sector 58 and the third element or roll 122' arev driven tooperate in timed, rela tion. This enables very rapid'feeding anddischarge. of successive bags to. and from the. valving and sleevingsection while at the same time efiectingthe feeding. under such, conditions that the bags. are under perfect control,

Asrthe valved and sleeved bag is thus deposited on the table'bars. 123 the roller abutment I49 on the gear 148., contacts. the bell crank arm 146 to rock the. bag; pusher arms: 142 and: raise the legs 143thercof above.

the. plane of thetahle bars 123 andto effect engagement of the studs with a tooth of the sprocket 1'32.- torlock it against motion Thus thesprocket chain .123 becomes effective to move the entire bag pusher assembly 124 rearwardly; together with the bag which is slid along the.

table, bars 123v as. the result of having its forward; edge engaged by the pusher legs. .This movement of; thepusherscontinues until the-rear edgeof the bag (oriented from; front; to'rear of the machine) comes intoengagement withthe feed. dogs of the sewing heads 151,. at which time the bell crank arm 145 contacts the roller;

abutment 15% to disengage the studs 1'35 from, they sprocket. 1'32 and to lower. the pusher legs. 143i below the-plane of, the tablebars 123;

After thesewingheads have applied the stitchedclosuressimultaneously to both ends-of the bag the dis.-. charge feed; rolls 157- become effective to deposit,- the:

completed bag in the receiver 164;

It is, of course, to he understood-that various details;

of arrangements and=proportions of parts maybe modia. fied within the scope of the appended claims.

1. In a-. machine of" the character stated; a table for= supporting a stack of; vertically piled gusseted multiwalh bag'tubes-in' suchaposition that the front edges of; the

inthepartially opened gusset for deflecting downwardly the forward edge portion of said bottom bag tube,means for" restraining the remainder of the bag tubesv against movement while the bottom bag tube is beingwithdrawn from said stack, a rotary feed sector engageable withthe; rear faceof the deflected portion of said bottom bag tube, a. rotary. feed segment engageable with the front face ofsaid deflected portion in opposition to. said feed sector? wherebyv said feed' sector and. said feed segment together are eifective to completely withdraw said bottom bag tube-from the stack thereof and. deposit it vertically onto'said-bag tube rest'with the front edge. down and the rearedge upand in a position intersecting the path of travel ofi thebag-contacting portion of said feed sector, and a rotary discharge feed-t roll opera-bly associated; with said. feed sector and positioned below and tothe rear thereof, said feed=sector and" discharge feed roll cooper ating to withdraw the previously deposited bag tube from its position on. said; bag tube rest immediately after said feed sector and said feed segment have commenced the feeding of the next bottom bag tube from the stack thereof;-

2; In: a machine for finishing paper bag tubes including bag tube finishing means and in combination bag tube feeding means including rotatable first, second and thirdelements, means for operating said finishing means, said' first and second elements havingcurved portions which make contact with. each other. intermittently. to form a firstnip between them during rotation of said first and. second elements, means for rotating said first and second elements in. timed relation with eachother and) with said finishing means to form said first nip be.-

tween them to engage a bag; tube and to move ittoward.

saidfinishing; means, said third element having a curved portion-*whieh; makescontact with the said curved portiono-f said second element intermittently to form a; second nip between them during rotation of said second and. third elements, and means for rotating said thirdelement in timedrelationwith said second element and;

said finishing means; to form said second nip between :them to engage said bag tube in said second nipv 13 after operation of said finishingmeans to move it away from said finishing means.

3. In the combination as set forth in claim 2, said first, second and third elements and said finishing means being operatively connected so that said first and second elements form said first nip to move a succeeding bag tube toward said finishing means while said second and third elements simultaneously form said second nip to move said bag tube away from said finishing means.

4. In the combination as set forth in claim 2, bag tube support means, means operating in timed relation with said first and second elements for successively selecting an individual bag tube from a stack thereof on said support means and moving said individual bag tube for engagement by said first and second elements.

5. In the combination as set forth in claim 2, means to guide a said bag tube to said finishing means.

6. In the combination as set forth in claim 2, one of said first and second elements having a section greater than semi-circular, the other having a section less than semi-circular and said third element being a roll.

7. In the combination as set forth in claim 2, said second element having a lead edge operative to engage a said bag tube at said finishing means and to carry it into said second nip.

8. In the combination as set forth in claim 2, picker means operatively connected to said first element to lead a said bag tube into said first nip.

9. In the combination as set forth in claim 2, gripper means separately mounted from and operatively connected to one of said first and second elements and engageable with a said bag tube for controlling its movement to said finishing means.

10. In the combination as set forth in claim 9, said gripper means being mounted on an endless chain operatively connected to move with one of the first and second elements.

11. In a machine for finishing paper bag tubes including first and second bag tube finishing means and in combination, bag tube feeding means including rotatable first, second and third elements, means for operating said first and second finishing means, said first and second elements having curved portions which make contact with each other intermittently to form a first nip between them during rotation of said first and second elements, means for rotating said first and second elements in timed relation with each other and with said first finishing means to form said first nip between them to engage a bag tube and to move it toward said first finishing means, said third element having a curved portion which makes contact with the said curved portion of said second element intermittently to form a second nip between them during rotation of said second and third elements, and means for rotating said third element in timed relation with said second element and with said first finishing means to form said second nip between them after operation of said first finishing means and to move it away from said first finishing means toward said second finishing means.

12. In the combination as set forth in claim 11, said first, second and third elements and said first finishing means being operatively connected so that said first and second elements form said first nip to move a succeeding bag tube toward said first finishing means while said second and third elements simultaneously form said second nip to move said bag tube from said first finishing means toward said second finishing means.

13. In the combination as set forth in claim 11, bag pusher means operatively connected to said second and third elements for moving a bagtube from said second and third elements to said second finishing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 272,834 Hawkins Feb. 20, 1883 1,367,331 Tauscher Feb. 1, 1921 1,790,686 Thiem Feb. 3, 1931 1,804,611 Halvorsen May 12, 1931 1,808,706 Novick June 2, 1931 1,832,876 Moyer Nov. 24, 1931 1,840,232 Hartman Jan. 5, 1932 2,142,143 Novick Jan. 3, 1939 2,205,633 Sharkey June 25, 1940 2,559,873 Grupe et a1. July 10, 1951 2,643,588 Burroughs June 30, 1953 2,813,612 Berglund et a1 Nov. 19, 1953 

